The sudden shock somewhat jolted Jing He awake. He lay on the ground in a stupor but then fought himself back onto his hands and knees and turned to look for An Xin. The small flame heart’s claws were still stuck in the hem of his robe but had managed to rip the fabric apart, barely holding on.

“I’m sorry.” Jing He quickly picked An Xin up and smoothed its fur, feeling guilty. He had been so frightened by what he had seen that he completely forgot about An Xin. Even though he felt that his panic was understandable, he was responsible for An Xin. How could he forget it in this kind of place that you couldn’t easily enter or exit?

He sighed and lowered his head, kissing An Xin’s furry head. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you behind. I just … I saw something very bad in the Spring of Fate just now so I was in a rush to leave. Are you hurt?” He raised the little flame heart and looked at it from all sides but the dark fur obscured his vision so he couldn’t tell at all. To be honest, he didn’t know much about raising mythical beasts either so … even if there wasn’t all the fur, he might not have been able to tell.

Feeling even more guilty, he rubbed An Xin’s back to soothe the little beast. “We’ll leave here now and return to the Nine Heavens to see Qiu Ling and make sure that he is right. When we get there, I will also find someone to take a look at you. If something is wrong, they’ll certainly find it and help you.”

An Xin was still shocked silly from the fall but with Jing He gently combing its fur and with the familiar voice above its ears, it slowly calmed down. In the end, the little flame heart simply curled up in Jing He’s arms as usual. Anyway, it was alright as long as he carried it along. Being hurt or whatnot … An Xin felt that a mighty flame heart such as itself didn’t have to worry about that.

Jing He waited a moment longer until he was sure that An Xin wasn’t in a bad state. Even if there were injuries he couldn’t see, none of them should be dire. It would indeed be enough to check it out after they arrived in the Nine Heavens again.

Relieved that he hadn’t messed this up as well, Jing He finally got to his feet again. With the interruption just now, the panic had receded. The only issue was that now, his body hurt where he had hit the stairs. He sighed and inwardly told himself that he shouldn’t be like this. So what if it hurt? As long as he could still walk, he shouldn’t bother to take a break. He had to go and find Qiu Ling first.

Jing He didn’t pay the pain any heed and instead walked up to the portal Tian had left behind. Just like in his first vision, he saw a place that looked like his palace. Most likely, this wasn’t the one in the Nine Heavens though but the one in the High Heavens that Tian had created for him to stay in while he dealt with his issues. In other words: The way back was still long.

Stepping through the portal, Jing He didn’t linger and immediately left his palace through the main entrance. Just as expected, no guards were waiting so this was indeed in the High Heavens and he’d have to make his way back on his own.

Thinking of his first vision again, Jing He pressed his lips together and made his way over to the palace where Tian was staying. When he tried to leave in the vision, he had gotten lost and wandered the High Heavens for what should have been days or weeks without knowing if he ever got closer to the Tian Shan. Only when he returned to the city and received Tian’s help did he make it back to the immortal realms. Naturally, with that experience fresh in his mind, he wouldn’t go out on his own and waste time.

Tian hadn’t seemed as if he wanted to see him again after he saw the vision at the Spring of Fate but … this much should be alright, shouldn’t it? Anyway, opening a portal was an easy ask and it wasn’t like he could still do it on his own. That ability had been given up, after all.

Jing He stopped in front of the building and looked up with some worry. His impression of Tian was difficult to put into words. On the one hand, he had been very helpful and without him, he wouldn’t be where he was now on his path toward the future. But on the other hand, Tian still scared him, and asking anything of him was difficult no matter how many times he did. In fact, maybe it became more difficult each time.

He took a deep breath and exhaled lightly before finally calling out. “Tian? I … am sorry for disturbing you again but I have returned from the Spring of Fate. I have made my choice but I believe I might have trouble finding the way back. Could you … open a portal to the Tian Shan for me?” He lowered his head, almost feeling more embarrassed because the words were out now. But no matter what, if he could return to Qiu Ling’s side just a little earlier, all this awkwardness was worth it.

The person inside didn’t care much. He didn’t even come outside and simply waved his hand, making a portal appear outside. In his mind, there was no doubt what Jing He should have chosen. Even if he wasn’t completely sure yet, the time he needed to go back to the capital city should be enough to figure it out. Thus, his own task was done. The rest was up to Jing He himself or maybe that lover of his who was certainly eagerly awaiting his return.

Jing He flinched when the portal suddenly appeared but then calmed down at once. He bowed toward the building and paused for a moment, thinking of everything that had happened recently. “Thank you for your help, all of it.” He didn’t expect a response so after another moment, he stepped through the portal which closed right behind him, finding himself at the top of the Tian Shan.

He sighed and slowly made his way down, his brows furrowing when he saw how time slowly passed. He wished he could have gone back faster and seen Qiu Ling earlier but with the transmission stone gone, he had no way to reach out so he could only rely on himself.

When he finally reached the foot of the mountain, he followed the same strategy he had seen in his first vision and kept walking alongside the edge of the mountain range. In the vision, even though he had only slowly made progress, he had been going in the right direction so he felt that this was the safest way to advance.

Well, he had kind of forgotten to take into consideration that he hadn’t started from the top of the Tian Shan in that vision and had instead been transported right to the foot of the mountain, already facing the right direction. This time, he wasn’t quite as lucky so his calculations were somewhat off.